Research Funding On-line Application System
(RFOAS) - FAQ for Applicants
https://www.fundingconsortium.gov.ab.ca/
Table of Contents
Research Funding On-line Application System (RFOAS) - FAQ for Applicants ... 2
1. Setting up and Logging into Your Account.................................................... 2
2. Creating Your Proposal / Editing Your Proposal ........................................... 2
3. Saving Your Work ......................................................................................... 2
4. Completing the Proposal ................................................................................. 3
5. Submitting the Proposal .................................................................................. 3
6. Important Information .................................................................................... 4
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Research Funding On-line Application System (RFOAS) - FAQ for Applicants
https://www.fundingconsortium.gov.ab.ca/ALMA/Account
1. Setting up and Logging into Your Account
 I am a new user, how do I sign up for an account?
 To sign up for an account go to
https://www.fundingconsortium.gov.ab.ca/ALMA/Account. Under “New Users”
enter your information then click “REGISTER”.
 How can I delete my account?
 If you would like to delete your account, please email [email protected]
or [email protected] and we will delete it for you.
 I have an account but forgot my password, how do I find it?
 Click on “Forgot your password?” enter your email address and a password will
be emailed to you.
2. Creating Your Proposal / Editing Your Proposal
 To create a NEW proposal (i.e. letter of intent or full proposal), select one of the current
initiatives listed below.
 The logo of the lead Funding Agency is in front of the initiative name.
 To access a CURRENT proposal, that requires further work or editing, click on the tab
‘My Proposals’ above.
 To access a letter-of-intent that has been accepted and a full proposal submission has
been requested, click on the tab ‘My Proposals’.
 Click on the (?) near the title to see additional information and a further description of
each section of the application.
3. Saving Your Work
There are three ways to save the data while filling out the proposal:
 Navigate through the footer links (click to the next or previous page of proposal)
 Navigate through the left links (proposal contents)
 Click on the ‘Quick Save’ link at the top of the page
 If you log off or close the webpage without performing one of these three actions, the
information typed into the page will NOT be saved.
 Because this is a web-based application, it is strongly recommended that you save
your work often. A web-based application will TIME-OUT after a few minutes of
inactivity. If this happens you will be prompted to log back into the application, and
any unsaved work will be lost.
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4. Completing the Proposal
 Please keep your answers for each section brief and to the point. There is a box at the
bottom of each section that counts the number of characters that you have entered. It is
the applicant’s responsibility to keep answers within the recommended number of
characters for each section.
 Proposals exceeding the character count will be arbitrarily TRUNCATED or REJECTED
when being reviewed by the Funders.
 If you use the MS Word template available on the Funding Consortium website to cutand-paste your proposal text to the online form, please avoid using symbols and text
formatting (bold, italics, etc.) as these will not carry over reliably into the online
application.
 Please review the online application form for EACH INITIATIVE, the form may vary
from the MS Word, Funding Consortium template.
 Character count if cutting and pasting from another document.
 Many of the sections are limited for length of text. If you exceed the character
count in any of the sections, the funders reserve the right to reject your
application.
 Go to the end of the pasted text, add a space and then the document counter will
count the characters.
 The online system will provide you with the character count. If you are cutting
and pasting from a word document onto the form, you must also manually type a
character for the on-line counter to work.
 To view the number of characters in a paragraph in MS Word 2007 and 2010
click Review > Word Count. To review the number of characters in Word Version
2003 click Tools > Word Count.
 Generally, 3800 characters including spaces is equivalent to 1 page
 The on-line system will reformat scientific nomenclature which uses subscripts,
superscripts, bold and italic formats to regular text.
5. Submitting the Proposal
 When the proposal is complete, click the "Submit" button on the final page to submit the
proposal to the lead Funding Agency.
 Once your proposal has been submitted, you will receive an automated email reply to
confirm that your proposal has been successfully submitted. Please also check your
spam/junk email folder for this message.
 If you do not receive an automated message acknowledging submission of your proposal,
please contact the lead Funding Agency for the initiative.
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6. Important Information
 This web-based application is NOT intended for online collaboration. It is
recommended, that during proposal development you collaborate using other methods
and then cut-and-paste the final text into the online application.
 The "Help" link provides the detailed information under each section.
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